


Secret Diary

by Radioactive_rainbow



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Love Confession, M/M, Secret Diary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:33:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23394070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Radioactive_rainbow/pseuds/Radioactive_rainbow
Summary: Link discovers Rhett's secret diary.
Relationships: Rhett McLaughlin/Link Neal
Comments: 3
Kudos: 37





	Secret Diary

It was a good day for Rhett. The sun was shining, the flowers were blooming, and he just aced a test. Now to go home and catch up on missed sleep. He'd lounge with no care in the world, evident by the dumb wide smile he has on his face. 

Until it dropped unceremoniously at his dorm door when his eyes landed on something he prayed never to see. 

Link is hunched over his table, reading a small brown book, its spine tattered and corners frayed. The book he cherished with his heart. The book he often visited in private moments, words in blue spilled in it meant only for his own eyes. The book that he had tucked away under several textbooks praying it would never land on his best friend and roommate's eyes. 

And the stoic face painted on the brunet certainly meant no good news. 

It was a bad day for Rhett. 

Link's eyes are glued to the crinkled pages, unaware of the figure brooding in disdain behind him. Only when he heard the slow, sad thud of the door closing did he tear his gaze from the scribbles. 

"Hey Link," he began, unsure of the tone he must adapt. Pulled between the ire of his privacy being invaded and the dread knowing those cream-yellow pages could make his lifelong friend shun him forever, he chose nonchalance at the end. "You hungry?"

"I'm good." Eyeing the book, he enquired, "This yours?"

"Nope. Never seen it." He hoped he bought the lie. 

"Really? Looks awfully like your handwriting. Not to mention it was in your drawer."

"Why are you going through my stuff, man?" He couldn't bring himself to yell at him as more dread seeped in his veins. 

"I wasn't trying to go through your stuff, I was trying to clean the drawer, and lo and behold! This little guy dropped to the floor."

"That doesn't mean you can read it." 

The two glared at each other for a while until Rhett broke off. "I forgive you, now gimme my diary."

"Oh, now you admit it?" He had an impish smirk on his lips. 

"Don't test me." He leaned forward to grab his books but his arm was swatted away. 

"Wait. These poems are nice. Did you write them?"

He sighed in defeat. Not willing to answer, he reached again for the leather cover. 

"I'm asking you a question, Rhett."

"And I don't wanna answer. Just give back my book." He saw two hands go up in submission. 

"We could talk about it, you know? I won't tease, I promise." He shoved the diary into his backpack and plopped on his bed.

"Really, those poems are good. I didn't know you could write that well. Are you in a secret book club I don't know of?"

He sighed. "No. I just scribble something when I'm bored."

"Really? Woah." He found it hard to believe that his friend was actually genuinely impressed with his works. There was a high possibility that he’s being sarcastic. "You're like a poet, man."

He ignored the heat blooming under his cheeks. "Hmm. You think I'm a good poet?”

"Well, I said you were ‘like’ a poet, not a ‘good’ poet. Don’t call yourself a poem genius now." He loosened his jaw at the friendly teasing. Teasing was good. It meant they were still on good terms. "But seriously, I liked them. All love poems, huh? Who were you writing for?"

He was happy that Link really liked them. But his worries still needed to be allayed. 

"No one in mind."

"C'mon, tellll meeee," he sang. "Abbie?"

"No."

"Gina?"

"No." He's ready to bolt out the door any minute. 

"Hrmm. Who else has blue eyes? There are so many."

He could swear his heart died at that moment. He didn't know if he must be relieved that he still hasn't guessed correctly who he has written about, or worried that he does know and now pulling names out of the air to tease him. 

"I'm not letting you go until you tell me who this lucky person is."

Lucky? He couldn't stop the blush creeping to his neck. Clearing his throat, he began, "I can't. They're a secret for a reason." He heard a warm chuckle. 

"Oh, secret huh? Okay, if you're not ready to tell me I have other ways to extract this 'secret' from you..." he trailed off with a wink. 

So he's not gonna drop this topic. Ever. And he will have to succumb to a tickle fight. But he too won't budge without a fight. The room was enveloped in silence. 

The croak of a throat clearing echoed in the room. "You don't need to tell me the name. But tell me about them. Where did you meet them? Or did you two meet at all?"

The usage of that particular pronoun, although knowing that it was unconscious by the smaller man, made his chest hurt nevertheless. "There's just something about them," he began with uncertainty. 

"Go on." The small prompt sounded devilish in his head. 

"I can't describe how I feel for them. So I try through poetry."

"Oh, how romantic!" Link clapped delightfully. "She's one lucky gal, I say. And you write really good as well! Like, that one line! _‘Sweet are your words, and to hear them I shall cross worlds. Though my legs would give way, my heart won’t quit reaching for you, my dear pole star.’_ That one was my favorite."

If his cheeks weren't blood red before, it was now. "Glad you like it."

"Which one did she like?"

He's already struggling to keep his facade. "I never showed…....them…."

"Oh? Then you must. I'm pretty sure she'll like at least one."

"Thanks Link." He had never been complimented this heavily before, and now he's racking his brain for appropriate replies. And the heat that has now painted his whole face doesn’t help in thinking.

"Does she know about you?"

That's it. His heart is hammering in his chest to desperately spill out the truth, ignoring the possible consequences. Testing waters, he began, "It's not 'her'."

His friend just stared at him, thrown off. "What do you mean?"

"It's 'him'." Sweat pooled in his clenched fists.

"Oh, sorry. So, does he know about you?"

The indifference in Link's tone sent chills down his spine. "You're okay with me liking…" 'Boys' was what he wanted to say but his tongue wouldn't curl to speak anything but 'you'. So he sealed his lips tight. 

"Rhett, I don’t mind who you like. I’m still your friend, no matter what. Well, I'm mad that you haven't told me till now, but that conversation's for another day. Now, does he know you?" Still not trusting his tongue, he responded with a meek affirming nod. 

"Well, now to see which boy has blue eyes. Shoot, no one's coming to my mind. Do I know him?” Another quick asserting nod.

Rhett was tempted to ask him to look in the mirror for the answer, but coincidentally he’s doing the same, pushing his bangs up with a finger, quite oblivious to the fact that description matches his own features. 

"C'mon man, tell me. I promise I won't tease. Unless you’re a big scaredy cat."

This is it. He must take the plunge of bravery or he'll never be able to ever again in his life. And the tease irked his pride a bit. "Scared, me? No. But you already know right? Why do you just want me to say it out loud, then?"

"What? I don't know him! I didn't even know you had a crush in the first place!" The voice was laced with impatience.

His eyebrows rose high. "Well. You read the book, didn't you?"

"Yeah. But I didn't see any name in any page."

"Did you read to the very end?"

"No, I was only halfway through before you came."

Now there are two choices. One, he can lie and get away from a potential heartbreak for the rest of his life. Two, he can tell the truth, and just furiously hope to all the gods in the world that his nightmare wouldn’t come true. He pondered on the statistics of a good outcome for a while. He didn’t miss the way the man before him quirked up his eyebrow and sealed his lips tight in anticipation of an answer.

“Turn to the last page.” He fished the book out of his bag and handed it back to him. He scanned his face with hitched breath as he turned the leaves to the very end. 

He could decipher no emotion at all. The blue eyes that always glimmered even when static gazed coldly on the words before them, their color almost turning grey. 

Panic. Disgust. Horror. Rage. Or all of the above. He predicted it way long ago, many times in his nightmares, yet why is he surprised? 

In slow motion he saw Link place the book on the table, push his chair back an inch and walk out of the door, shutting it softly, without another word. Every minute after that pulled him deeper into a spiral of madness and agony. There’s nothing he can do now to stop the tears at the corner of his eyes falling. He cradled his head in his hands and let the world turn black.

The wind ruffled the leaves of the book open, revealing the last page full of inky scribbles of their names in various combinations, the tiny hearts all over the page emulating a teen girl’s love sickness. Rhett loves Link. Rhett + Link. Rhett and Link. 

=====

Flashes of pain through his arm woke Rhett up from his slumber. His crusty eyelids reminded him that he had cried himself to sleep, and why. He slowly came to, letting the last wave of disorientation and fatigue to fade away, while the pain lulled more intensely. Just then it dawned on him - his arm's underneath something. No, it was underneath someone. He whipped his head to the side to be greeted with a silky quaff of dark hair.

This must be a dream, he surmised. Albeit a very cruel, and lucid one, if he could move and feel. The head tucked into his neck, warm breath grazing his skin, the dark strands grazing his cheek, one bony but brawny arm draped over his chest, accompanied with soft snores was too much to endure. The figure slept peacefully cuddling him, leaving no molecule of air between them.

Fear clawed at his mind. He couldn’t feel the blood circulation in his hand anymore. With trepidation, he shifted to remove his hand, hoping to not wake the other man on his bed. It was in vain.

The brunet lifted his head and beamed a teeny smile. “Hey bo. Did ya sleep well?” 

This is definitely a dream. He shut his eyes real tight to go back to the real world. 

The soreness still lingered in his arm. So this is definitely not a dream. The realization sent shock waves through his spine, jolting both of them.

“What’s wrong, bo?” The endearment was enough to make him sit up straight, forcing the other to wake up as well. He needs to get out of this nightmare soon. But the arms around his torso held on tighter.

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay, calm down.” The voice tried to soothe him. He turned to the voice with an incredulous look, eyebrows almost disappearing in his messy blond curls. 

“What...Why’re you here in my bed?”

“What, I can’t sleep with my boyfriend now?” Rhett wondered how hard he hit his head before fainting to sleep. 

“Boyfriend?” He almost yelled.

“Or soon to be, either way you want.” Link nuzzled on his chest like a kitten, the hold on his chest tightening a bit. 

But this amorous gesture could only make his eyes water. “This is a dream,” he whispered in a daze. 

Still not removing his head from his chest, Link replied with a dreamy tone. “A dream come true.”

“No, this is a dream.” Then he proceeded to wiggle out of the loving grasp, much to the other man’s confusion. He cocked his head sideways and blinked at him.

“No, this is not a dream. You have just woken up from a nap, bo.” He has to yet retract his arms. 

“What happened?” He blinked furiously, hoping to shake off the last remnants of his sleep. His eyes itched at the corners, but he didn’t try to scratch it. The dream’s getting weirder by the minute.

“I came back to you crying into your pillow, and...I tried waking you up but you didn’t, so I held you until you calmed down. It was because of me, right bo? I made you cry, didn't I?” Tightening his grip, he continued. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to walk out without a word..."

One could see the fumes radiating out of his brain as he tried to comprehend the slew of words thrown at him. His green eyes stared on insipidly; his mouth slacked with worry.

His gaze falls for the first time on the red rose placed on the table, illuminated by the soft orange glow of a setting sun through the window. Link’s eyes followed suit.

“Found a rose bush near the park and immediately thought of asking you out with it. Just like in cheesy rom-coms. Don't look at me like that, you make me do such things." He drew a dopey smile with his mouth. Sighing, he continued. "Now that I'm here, I want to tell you so many things I've dreamed of telling you all these years."

"What happened?" He repeated to himself like a broken record, hoping that the answer would show up eventually. He briefly wondered if he woke up in an alternate timeline or universe, while looking anywhere but him. 

“Hey, you don’t think I’m not serious, are you?" He gently enquired. "I'm not joking, bo, and I mean every word.” But Rhett could only gape on like he had a thousand heads.

“Serious? You just left without a word and now here you are, calling me 'boyfriend' and stuff, so what do you want me to think?” Tears rolled down and vanished in his beard.

Link softly wiped away those drops with his thumb, not minding the matching pair of salty trickle on his own face. He let his palm cradle his bearded cheek. “I’m so sorry. It was a lot at once, unable to believe what I just read. I've been tellin’ myself for years that wouldn’t happen, so now learning the truth, that you really love me? It's .... that broke me."

He paused to wipe his own tears. "I should have told you something before I left, shouldn’t I? I .... I just needed to take everything in. Took a walk in the park and sorted everything out.” He paused to catch a breath, his voice bent with regret. “And now I'm so full of happiness that I don't know what to say or do."

He looked around, pondered for a long time, and continued, "But there is one thing I do know. I don’t wanna spend another moment apart from you."

He paused for a long breath. He got up and reached for the single bloom, daintily holding the stem between his two fingers and sat back on the bed. With a smile, he stretched it out in front of him.

“Rhett, will you be my boyfriend?”

It’s bizarre how the first emotion he feels is one of anger, not elation or ardor. A surge of ire swept through his still half-asleep, bit sozzled brain. He loves Link more than anything in the world, but how dare he toys with his already fissured heart, tugging at its seams? The whole day was nothing but a cacophony of emotions, the tear glands taking its toll. He looked at his love again. Wearing a tranquil smile, cheeks a little damp, unaware of the boundless typhoon he had unleashed in him. He’ll give everything to see that any other day, but right now he doesn’t want to see that cheeky, heart-stealing smile.

So he steals it by lunging forward and capturing those lips with a fervid kiss, not stopping even for a breath. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
